>> Not obese, no. Also not fit. My arms contain very little muscle, and 
>> attempting to lift 100 Kg using only my arms operating in an unusual 
>> direction is pretty much beyond my current capabilities.
> 
> You make it sound harder than it is :-)

No, actually putting it in writing makes it sound significantly *easier* 
than it is.

> First off you are probably not lifting 100kg when you do pushups, 
> because a good part of your weight is supported by your feet. I think 
> less than 70% of your weight is more accurate. Even less if you do them 
> on your knees (which you should probably try).

Well, just for giggles, I did have a go at a pushup a little earlier 
today. I can get my head a few milimeters off the floor, but that's 
about it. My neck and shoulders can't take much more than that, never 
mind the unability of my arms to supply sufficient power. (And ignoring 
the increased blood pressure to my head...)

> And the arms are not in an unusual position when you do that exercise. 
> They are very well made to operate in front of your torso :-)

Sure. And I can lift fairly heavy loads in an *upwards* direction. But 
pushing forwards is a pretty unusual configuration.

> Read this book for more fun :-D
> 
>
http://www.lulu.com/product/t%C3%A9l%C3%A9chargement/the-little-book-of-push-ups/6102671


"Fortunately, it is almost impossible to injure yourself while doing 
basic pushups."

LMAO! WTF?

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:
> Well, just for giggles, I did have a go at a pushup a little earlier 
> today. I can get my head a few milimeters off the floor, but that's 
> about it. My neck and shoulders can't take much more than that, never 
> mind the unability of my arms to supply sufficient power. (And ignoring 
> the increased blood pressure to my head...)

You're doing it wrong. You should start at the up position, then go down 
as far as you can, then go back up. Trying to start from lying flat on 
the ground is quite a bit harder and won't train you to succeed...

>> And the arms are not in an unusual position when you do that exercise. 
>> They are very well made to operate in front of your torso :-)
> 
> Sure. And I can lift fairly heavy loads in an *upwards* direction. But 
> pushing forwards is a pretty unusual configuration.

What about all this time you spent on all fours as a child? What about 
all those doors you've pushed?

If you prefer pushing upward you can try vertical pushups, but they are 
not the easiest kind ;-)

-- 
Vincent

Post a reply to this message

Vincent Le Chevalier wrote:

> You're doing it wrong. You should start at the up position, then go down 
> as far as you can, then go back up. Trying to start from lying flat on 
> the ground is quite a bit harder and won't train you to succeed...

Oh. I see.

>>> And the arms are not in an unusual position when you do that 
>>> exercise. They are very well made to operate in front of your torso :-)
>>
>> Sure. And I can lift fairly heavy loads in an *upwards* direction. But 
>> pushing forwards is a pretty unusual configuration.
> 
> What about all this time you spent on all fours as a child?

Mass rises as the cube of size, but muscle power rises as the square of 
size. (This is why ants can lift 1,000 times their own weight, but 
elephants can only lumber along.)

Besides, you can move on all fours with your elbows locked. That doesn't 
take much muscle power. ;-)

> What about all those doors you've pushed?

A door isn't nearly as heavy as a person.

I did, however, move a piano up a spiral staircase one time... Jesus, 
THAT was fun! o_O

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:
> Well, just for giggles, I did have a go at a pushup a little earlier 
> today.

If you can't do that, then lean against the edge of a table, so you're at a 
45-degree slant or so, and do some. Then use a lower table, or the edge of 
your matress, or some such. Do one more of that type every day.

When you can get to doing pushups on the floor, do one more every day.  It 
really only takes like 5 minutes a day to get a basic amount of fitness.

In three months, you'll be doing 100 pushups in a row.

You might not be able to do one more every day if the day has been 
particularly tiring, but it doesn't sound like you have particularly tiring 
days. Or if that'sa a problem, do them in the morning.


-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
>> ...my God. You can make metal that thin?? o_O
> You've seen aluminium foil haven't you?  That's probably 10x thinner.  

And one of the benefits of gold is that you can squash it down to literally 
one atom thick and it'll still stick together in sheets.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

Post a reply to this message

> Well, just for giggles, I did have a go at a pushup a little earlier 
> today. I can get my head a few milimeters off the floor, but that's about 
> it. My neck and shoulders can't take much more than that, never mind the 
> unability of my arms to supply sufficient power. (And ignoring the 
> increased blood pressure to my head...)

You can start off with your hands on a raised platform to make it easier. 
For example, feet on ground, hands on table, should be very easy.  Then try 
hands on a chair, etc., eventually you will be able to do it with your hands 
on the ground.  Then start to lift your feet up, until finally you can do a 
press-up with your body vertical :-)

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:
>>> Hmm, interesting. I wouldn't have expected that to work.
>>
>> What, that a car has more weight on the front wheels than the back?
> 
> Possibly, once you've got the back wheels up on a ramp. ;-)
> 
> I meant more that I wouldn't have expected to be able to just completely
> disregard 3/4 the weight of the object just because I'm only looking at
> one wheel.
> 

The suspension of the car does play a part here. They are designed to
keep all four wheels on the ground, and as flat as possible, when going
through a corner. If the weight of the car started shifting around every
time you moved the center of mass on the interior or went into a banked
corner just a bit too fast, the car would not be very stable at all.

Post a reply to this message

"Invisible" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:4b717a62@news.povray.org...

> Not obese, no. Also not fit. My arms contain very little muscle, and
> attempting to lift 100 Kg using only my arms operating in an unusual

Then don't lift your body; push the earth down.

Post a reply to this message

>> Not obese, no. Also not fit. My arms contain very little muscle, and
>> attempting to lift 100 Kg using only my arms operating in an unusual
> 
> Then don't lift your body; push the earth down.

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:
> Vincent Le Chevalier wrote:
> 

>> What about all those doors you've pushed?
> 
> A door isn't nearly as heavy as a person.
> 

Some of the ones we had offshore weighed half a ton.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message